The present invention relates to improved solutions for conveying electric machine components (e.g., armatures or stators for electric motors, generators, or alternators) between different processing stations and between machines of the same processing station of a manufacturing line.
Manufacturing lines that use pallet conveyor apparatus are known. For example, the disposition of processing stations along such lines, the sequence with which the pallets reach the stations, and the transport routes by which the pallets reach the stations have been described in Santandrea et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,353, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
A component of a dynamo-electric machine (e.g., the armature or stator being made) is often carried along the manufacturing line by a conveyor apparatus while mounted on a pallet, which may carry one or more such components. The pallet can be encoded in a known way with information regarding the condition of the component or components it is carrying. The encoded information can include an identification of the processing steps to be performed, the status of each step, whether the component should be rejected, etc. The information can be encoded magnetically, electronically, mechanically, or electromechanically, and a suitable reading device is provided adjacent each processing station to read the information. When a manufacturing line or processing station includes a plurality of routes, pallets are usually transferred between the routes as necessary. Pallet transfer should be simple and reliable, but should not interfere with the information encoded on the pallet. Moreover, a pallet should be able to convey different size components along the manufacturing line.
Some manufacturing lines include processing stations with two or more machines that perform the same function (e.g., winding). Two or more machines may be needed at a single processing station to avoid a "bottleneck" when the processing time of a machine is longer than the processing time required by other machines or stations of the same manufacturing line. Transfer between machines of a single station, however, can be mechanically complicated and expensive to manufacture and maintain. Moreover, conventional transfer apparatus can consume substantial floor space, making it difficult for an operator to gain access to components and machines of a processing station.
It is therefore desirable to provide a mechanically reliable conveyor apparatus that provides an operator easy access to components and machines of a processing station.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of this invention to provide a solution for the problems associated with conveying and transferring dynamoelectric machine components in a manufacturing line.
It is another object of this invention to provide a reliable pallet conveyor apparatus that accommodates a large number of pallets, each of which can accept multiple size components.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a pallet conveyor apparatus that provides an operator easy access to components and machines of a processing station along a manufacturing line.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a pallet conveyor apparatus that can transfer pallets between different manufacturing lines, including compact, vertically stacked manufacturing lines, without complicated transfer apparatus.